With the onset of fall practice finally upon us recruiting is about to get pushed to the backburner for a bit as preparations for the season get cranked up. It may slow down, but recruiting never stops, and the Vols' welcomed an unofficial visitor to campus over the weekend, Alabama athlete Marquis Maze, as they hit the practice field on Saturday afternoon.

Maze (5-foot-8, 160 pounds 4.4 40-yard dash), from Tarrant High School in Birmingham, made the trek to Knoxville to make sure he had an opportunity to see the school and the program first hand before his own football season got in the way.

After making the drive up on Saturday morning to watch the media day festivities and the Vols' second practice, he was glad he put in the effort.

"This was my first trip up there and I liked it a lot, as soon as I saw the campus I really fell in love with it. I thought the school and everything was beautiful," Maze said of his initial impressions. "My mom and my grandmother came with me and they both had a good time."